Page 48 of Don't Believe A Word

CRISTY: ‘Understood, but would you mind telling me how long you’ve been coming here? I’m doing some research into someone who rented the place back at the beginning of the Noughties.’

PORTLY MAN: ‘You’ll need to speak to the landowner’s agent about that. His name’s Frank Fox, has an office in Taunton and another in Bath. You’ll find him online.’

CRISTY: ‘Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.’

The man grunted as he turned to go, raising a hand in a dismissive farewell.

ROBERT: ‘You handled him well.’

CRISTY: ‘I got the information I wanted.’

ROBERT: ‘Which I could have told you, if you’d asked.’

Laughing as she elbowed him, she watched the hunter disappear inside the house and spoke into her mic.

CRISTY: ‘It’s quite possible Janina hid very close to the spot where I’m standing right now to watch the sisters, maybe even her own daughter playing outside the house. It’s also possible that she went right up to the front door, early one morning, to deliver the envelope that so unnerved the sisters.’

She took a long, last look around, trying for another sense of Janina’s presence. It was fanciful, of course, and she really didn’t expect to spot some sort of ghost flitting through the trees, or to hear a whisper drifting down from the moor. However, she did get the feeling they were in the right place, that it really had all started here.

‘Next stop Frank Fox,’ she said, turning off the recorder. ‘Do you know him?’

‘No, I’ve just heard that he still rides to hounds and to hell with the law. So you should get along well with him.’

*

An hour later Cristy and Connor were driving back up the M5 towards Bristol, having left Robert to return his mother to her residential village, before making his own two-hour journey north. Frank Fox, who indeed managed Hilltop Lodge – his assistant had soon worked out which property Cristy was calling about – would be getting back to them sometime tomorrow when he returned from an extended Christmas break.

‘I was honestly beginning to think Cristy had abandoned me,’ Connor was telling Jodi on the phone, as if Cristy wasn’t there. ‘She was gone way longer than I expected, and now I’m so deeply in love with Gita Brinkley I think we might have to adopt her.’

As Cristy laughed, Jodi said, ‘Tell me more about Robert. Is he as drop-dead in person as he is online?’

‘You’ve looked him up too?’ Cristy cried. ‘Honestly, you’re as bad as Meena.’

‘No one’s that bad,’ Connor retorted. ‘And let’s put it this way, babe, he’s so good-looking he even makes me swoon.’

‘He’s married,’ Cristy put in quickly, ‘and I am so NOT looking for a man … Jesus, how can you even think it when you know what’s going on in my life?’

‘It could be just what you need.’

‘Maybe if he weren’t married, but he is, and he also lives on the other side of the world. So can we get ourselves a reality check here and talk about serious things such as the real reason you’re calling?’

‘This is it,’ Jodi responded chirpily. ‘To find out how your day went. Oh, and to get an idea of what time you might be back? Would you like to join us for supper and maybe give Aurora a bath?’

Cristy turned to Connor. ‘I think she means it,’ she said quietly.

‘She does,’ he confirmed. ‘It’s a great honour.’

‘Then I can’t possibly turn it down.’

‘Yay!’ Jodi cried. ‘I’ll text Aiden, find out what he’s doing in case he’d like to come. Should I try Matthew?’

‘Maybe not,’ Cristy responded.

‘I get it. You don’t want him thinking we’re encouraging his bid to win you back. Gosh, all these men, Cristy. What is to become of you? Have you heard from David, by any chance?’

‘Not since webroke up, and I don’t expect to. Now, I’ve got a call coming in on my phone that I need to take.’

‘Is it Robert?’

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